Note 1: This is NOT a list of character skills, just a list of xianxia terms in Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (GDC) aka Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS) that are likely to come up in tags, so I might as well give a brief explanation of them.
Note 2: This is by no means a full list of what goes on in canon, just a primer I slapped together from reading the GDC book-- the novels published by Seven Seas have glossaries at the back-- and other xianxia novels and comics, and a bit of extra research to fill in some gaps. There are people who have done even deeper dives into the genre, like whoever runs the Immortal Mountain site. If I made a mistake somewhere or the official translations contradict anything I've already written, I'll make the necessary edits.
Note 3: I'm a Southeast Asian of Chinese descent living in a Southeast Asian country with close historical and cultural ties to China. Some of the Chinese culture prevalent in this region has changed over time and distance, but the roots are still the same, so I try to write what knowledge I do have in ways I understand them to make them more accessible.
Unless specifically stated, these are all GDC-only concepts because wuxia and xianxia usually don't concern themselves with the dead or necromancy-like powers. In general, the earlier the body is reanimated after death, the stronger the undead is, and are capable of smelling blood even if they don't breathe. They can't heal, requiring intervention if they're damaged, but it's implied that they don't rot (but they do stink, depending on the body's deterioration when they were turned undead).
Walking corpses are the most basic undead, the shambling zombie in so many stories-- the only difference between GDC's walking corpses and zombies in other media is that they're not motivated by an instinct to eat brains. Or motivated by much, really. They might haul ass for blood, but their "hauling ass" isn't too threatening. Because of this, they're the easiest type of corpse for orthodox cultivators to defeat, and for demonic cultivators to control.
Fierce corpses are stronger and more ferocious than walking corpses due to their high amounts of resentment, which makes them ideal tools for demonic cultivators, but that also makes them difficult to defeat or control-- even one lapse in concentration can spell disaster for any cultivator. Because of the resentment, it's not unusual for a fierce corpse to act on the emotions that created that resentment in the first place, like attacking someone they wanted revenge on, or attempting to fulfill their final wish. Fierce corpses are also the ones that can regain their sentience by having their souls returned to them-- it's unknown if it's possible with the others, or if the high levels of resentment have something to do with the process.
Hopping corpses are the typical corpses seen in Chinese folklore and older Chinese media, also known as jiangshi. Because of their stiff limbs, they can only hop around, giving them their name. In GDC, they can only be created through corpse poisoning, an illness that develops when someone inhales the toxic blood or powder that a walking corpse emits when cut, or if they're wounded by a walking corpse. The illness acts quickly, but an easy non-cultivator remedy is glutinous rice, either by eating it as congee or applying the rice directly onto the wound.
Living corpses are created from humans who hadn't died yet, to avoid the stiff limbs and slow movement that the other types have. Some living corpses also don't realize that they're dead and act the way they did in life. It's said that a demonic cultivator (like, an actual one, not someone following the ghost path) first developed them, but the only one we ever see was created through corpse poisoning, so we don't know for sure what the actual process is.
Puppets are a live action-only concept-- depictions of undead are currently forbidden in Chinese media, so this is the live action's answer to the censorship. They have all the hallmarks of a fierce corpse, but have lost their souls and are still slightly alive rather than completely dead. They can't be returned to full health though, and are treated exactly like the novel's fierce corpses.
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undead types
Walking corpses are the most basic undead, the shambling zombie in so many stories-- the only difference between GDC's walking corpses and zombies in other media is that they're not motivated by an instinct to eat brains. Or motivated by much, really. They might haul ass for blood, but their "hauling ass" isn't too threatening. Because of this, they're the easiest type of corpse for orthodox cultivators to defeat, and for demonic cultivators to control.
Fierce corpses are stronger and more ferocious than walking corpses due to their high amounts of resentment, which makes them ideal tools for demonic cultivators, but that also makes them difficult to defeat or control-- even one lapse in concentration can spell disaster for any cultivator. Because of the resentment, it's not unusual for a fierce corpse to act on the emotions that created that resentment in the first place, like attacking someone they wanted revenge on, or attempting to fulfill their final wish. Fierce corpses are also the ones that can regain their sentience by having their souls returned to them-- it's unknown if it's possible with the others, or if the high levels of resentment have something to do with the process.
Hopping corpses are the typical corpses seen in Chinese folklore and older Chinese media, also known as jiangshi. Because of their stiff limbs, they can only hop around, giving them their name. In GDC, they can only be created through corpse poisoning, an illness that develops when someone inhales the toxic blood or powder that a walking corpse emits when cut, or if they're wounded by a walking corpse. The illness acts quickly, but an easy non-cultivator remedy is glutinous rice, either by eating it as congee or applying the rice directly onto the wound.
Living corpses are created from humans who hadn't died yet, to avoid the stiff limbs and slow movement that the other types have. Some living corpses also don't realize that they're dead and act the way they did in life. It's said that a demonic cultivator (like, an actual one, not someone following the ghost path) first developed them, but the only one we ever see was created through corpse poisoning, so we don't know for sure what the actual process is.
Puppets are a live action-only concept-- depictions of undead are currently forbidden in Chinese media, so this is the live action's answer to the censorship. They have all the hallmarks of a fierce corpse, but have lost their souls and are still slightly alive rather than completely dead. They can't be returned to full health though, and are treated exactly like the novel's fierce corpses.